The hoopoe has become increasingly rare in Germany, compared to the 19th century when they could be found nationwide. Photos: dpa
Residents in Europe can count themselves very lucky indeed if they spot a Eurasian hoopoe as the birds migrate north from Africa.
The cinnamon-coloured birds have an eye-catching crest, black and white wings and a curving beak – and give a soft “oop-oop-oop” call.
One of their stopping points is Germany, where they return each year at a time determined by the weather, trading wintering grounds in northern Africa for spots like the German state of Brandenburg.
Its fans there include four birdwatchers who decided to create stable birdhouses to encourage the hoopoe to stop by for a spell.
These birds, which breed in caves, tend to come to Sielmann’s Wanninchen Nature Reserve near Luckau, south of Berlin, usually in spring but depending on the weather.
There used to be many more throughout Germany in the 19th century, but the species gradually disappeared from the north-west, says amateur ornithologist Philipp Juranek who became a fan when he saw the orange bird in his garden.
Hoopoe were driven away due to increasing cultivation of fields and the use of pesticides in agriculture.
A group of amateur ornithologists came up with a design for nesting boxes for the hoopoe – financed by the sale of beer.
Now, of the estimated 800 to 950 breeding pairs in Germany, about half live in Brandenburg, he says.
However Brandenburg, in the north east, has a post-industrial landscape that is perfectly suited to the hoopoe, which loves barren open landscapes in warm, dry areas.
They can find crickets and grasshoppers in the former military training areas, says the head of the Sielmann Foundation’s Wanninchen Nature Experience Centre, Ralf Donat.
But there are limited nesting possibilities in old branch holes, pollarded willows or stone piles, so a group of conservationists decided to help out by building wooden bird homes to entice the hoopoe to settle.
Juranek met three other hoopoe fans online.
A filmmaker from Berlin, Juranek and his family moved to an old farm near Luckau five years ago and found a hoopoe in their garden. “It starts calling at about 20°C,” Juranek says.
“He uses the three-syllable hoot to mark out his territory.”
Juranek and his neighbour Bastian Enners decided to help the birds, with a “Wiedehopfen”, a beer they sell for the benefit of the hoopoe. The name dovetails the German words for “hoopoe” and “hops”.
They partnered with a local brewery, the Barnimer Brauhaus in nearby Hohenfinow. “As a brewery in the countryside, we are very close to nature ourselves and wanted to support this great voluntary campaign,” says owner Nora von Billerbek.
The group then commissioned a carpenter make a total of 90 hoopoe breeding boxes, financed by the proceeds of the beer.
They give away the spacious luxury nests – an octagonal tube with a round entrance hole and a canopy – free of charge to interested parties by Juranek and at the Wanninchen Centre.
They advise anyone hoping to encourage the hoopoe to install the nesting box with the opening facing south-east at a height of 50 to 150cm. Make sure it is set firmly, without wobbling, says Juranek.
Breeding pairs are very faithful, returning regularly to the same sites, he says. “That means they use the nest hole again and again, so it has to last a long time.”
They worked with conservationists to set up 30 nesting tubes in the most suitable spots in spring last year. The birds moved into some of them, they noted happily.
Donat says there are around 12 to 15 breeding pairs in Wanninchen. Of those, 10 have moved into the nesting boxes. If the conditions are right, the hoopoe can raise two broods with five to eight eggs each per year.
“It is not only important to install the nest tubes, but to preserve the habitats – pastures and meadows with dry grassland.” Areas hoping to reintroduce the birds should ensure the spaces remain open, says Donat.
Juranek says people who come and get the special bird houses also tend to feel responsible for them, meaning the hoopoe is shaping their identity.
“This is public relations that works all by itself,” he says with satisfaction. More and more enquiries are coming from all over Germany, for the bird boxes.
The bird boxes are mainly being placed in the Niederlausitzer Landrucken Nature Park, though there are some further north, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as well as in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
Down in the south-western state of Baden-Wurttemberg, there are still only a few hoopoes to be found. “A sad development, considering that it was once widespread in the vineyards there,” says Juranek.
Perhaps sales of local beer might help encourage them back to the wine-growing region too some day. – dpa/Jeanette Bederke
